Valerius glanced at the door and ignored the knocking. He turned back to stare at Isolde, asking her questions with his eyes.
Adam had heard the conversation throughout the office. He also looked shocked by the unexpected revelations, but he still thought of Aeren as his little brother and wanted to protect him no matter what.
But he couldn't move at all.
The door was knocked again, and everyone turned toward it. Valerius felt irritated by the repeated knocking and said loudly toward the door, "Wait outside! I will call you later."
As Valerius finished his words—
BOOOMM!
The door shattered, and everyone heard a cold voice from the doorway: "What did you say, Vale?"
Valerius heard the voice and began trembling from within. He looked at the door and dropped to his knees.
The others were shocked by the door shattering, and after seeing Principal Valerius kneel, they instinctively knelt as well, not even knowing why.
A man in his twenties walked into the office, stood before Principal Valerius, and asked again, "What did you say, Vale?"
Valerius looked at the ground, sweating profusely, and said, "My King, I have no excuse."
King Kendrick Verya gazed coldly at Valerius's bowed head, saying nothing. Then he turned and glanced at the children around them. Kendrick calmed himself and sat in the principal's chair.
Kendrick looked at all of them and said with a cold voice, "Stand up."
Everyone stood and saw the young man, but his aura filled the entire room. Looking at the King was draining their mana, so everyone averted their gaze and began looking at the ground—except for Renn. Even Valerius kept his eyes down.
King Kendrick noticed this unusual behavior and felt slight interest in Renn. He gazed at Valerius and asked, "Why are there children here?"
Valerius kept his eyes on the ground and said, "I found the kidnapper of your daughter, and they are witnesses."
Kendrick's eyes widened as he looked at the others and asked, "Where is he? And what did you find about him?"
Valerius still kept his eyes on the ground and said, "He's in prison. We didn't find anything."
King Kendrick stared at Valerius.
Boom!
The table was destroyed as he said, "You're telling me that you found the kidnapper and weren't able to find anything about him?"
Valerius looked at King Kendrick and said, "That's what we were discussing."
King Kendrick gazed at Valerius and said, "Take me to him. I'll ask him personally."
Valerius was shocked by Kendrick's words—he had never thought the King still loved his daughter so much. Valerius had no choice and simply nodded at the King's words.
Valerius looked at the other students and said to them, "You all rest for this week and try to stay stable."
King Kendrick's eyes turned to Renn and he asked, "What's your name?"
Renn met King Kendrick's gaze and said, "I'm Renn, a second-year student."
King Kendrick was shocked by his response and asked, "A commoner?" Kendrick continued gazing at Renn. He had never seen anyone with such talent who could meet his eyes at such a young age. Most surprising of all, he was just a commoner.
Kendrick looked at Renn and said, "If you need any help in the future, just give this pendant to any royal or noble family. They will help without question." Kendrick nodded with pride for his kingdom.
Renn stared at the dark purple pendant—it wasn't shining at all and looked like trash he wanted to throw away, but that was what made this pendant unique.
King Kendrick and Valerius left the principal's office, with everyone watching their backs except for one person.
Adam started following them from behind, slowly and steadily. But to his surprise, Adam couldn't take another step forward—as if he were stuck in place. Just like that, both men disappeared from his sight.
Adam was released and could walk again, but he didn't know where to go.
Vale and Kendrick came to a cave-like space, walking together, when Kendrick asked, "Why was he trying to follow us?"
Vale glanced at the King and said, "My King, he is the brother of the kidnapper."
Kendrick looked at Vale and said, "Family, huh." Kendrick had always loved his family—that's why he only had one wife. He knew that if he married more than one woman, problems would emerge in the kingdom as they would fight each other for the throne.
But if he married only one woman, the problem was solved. So he married the strongest woman he could find and taught their children to protect their brothers and sisters first.
But he had been too busy with the kingdom's problems and had almost forgotten about his family. Then this incident happened—someone kidnapped his daughter without anyone knowing.
That event showed him reality: even if you were the strongest, someone could still harm you. If they couldn't harm you directly, they would target your family, and if not family, then friends. The list was endless. He understood that day, and King Kendrick thought, If I need to surpass all these things, I need knowledge of everything around me and outside the kingdom.
Vale and King Kendrick both reached the massive entry to the Prison of Dungeon.
The guards looked at both of them, panicked, and knelt down, saying, "We greet His Majesty, the King!"
Kendrick looked at both of them and said, "Stand up and open the door."
Both guards were surprised—inside there were many people who wanted to kill King Kendrick—but they didn't raise their voices and opened the door.
Vale and King Kendrick entered the Prison of Dungeon.
They saw a wide field where people with mana restrictions were walking back and forth. Vale searched the entire place but couldn't find Aeren anywhere in the Prison of Dungeon.
Vale looked for the royal guards in the Prison of Dungeon through his senses and found them—but they were dead bodies.
Vale grabbed one prisoner by the collar and asked with anger in his eyes, "What happened here?"
The prisoner just smirked and said, "Someone came here and took some people from this prison. They killed all the royal guards around here. Hahahahaha!"
King Kendrick heard his voice, punched him, and his head exploded. Blood splattered all over Vale's body, but his mana shield protected him.
"We could at least have asked him about Aeren," Vale said.
"There's nothing left to ask," Kendrick replied coldly.